Wednesday Bolts – 7.27.11

Ben Golliver of CBSSports.com ranks every roster and the Thunder are second: “From one to eight, there is no better roster in the entire NBA. This group is by far the most delicately, surgically constructed group. Really, there are so many riches that it’s almost embarrassing. Two young All-Stars growing up together. Zero holes in the starting lineup. All of the important role player holes (backup point guard, scorer off the bench, third big man) are filled through at least the next two seasons. Not a single bad contract on the books, assuming center Kendrick Perkins is able to stay healthy. Eventually, the Thunder will have to pay big to retain this group but that’s a problem for a different day. Right now, this roster is talented, balanced, deep, athletic and full of high-character players who are committed to winning. That’s as good as it gets. (Almost.)”

ESPN’s 5-on-5 asks who the best small forward is in today’s game and Kyle Weidie of Truth About It went against LeBron: “How many different ways can we answer LeBron? Here’s one: Kevin Durant. Despite James’ unusual distaste for post offense, I can’t, in good faith, dub him as “small.” Durant has the perimeter dazzle one would traditionally want at the 3 with more appealing budding moxie to take big shots.”

Zach Harper for TrueHoop on clutchiness: “Sports are always such a personal, internal catalyst for how we feel about the things we see. We look for an animalistic satisfaction in the way things happen on the field. We want to see overpowering moments of success. We want to see domination. But we also want to see someone come down to the final shot and come through during the most pressure-packed moments. We want to feel the drama of what’s happening, trust that our guy will come through when it counts the most, and feel that validation of knowing he would succeed.”

Ken Berger of CBSSports.com on stars being involved in the labor dispute: “Forget the barnstorming tour of China. How about a barnstorming tour of midtown Manhattan? How about lunch with Stern and Silver and some index fingers aimed at the chests of the owners trying to make their teammates and colleagues capitulate while the stars are busy traveling the world selling stuff — as if it’s business as usual, as if nothing is going on?”

Bill Ingram of HoopsWorld: “So what’s the deal in Oklahoma City? Why are people so dead set on finding some scandal or some controversy to cast a shadow over a remarkably successful team that’s done things the right way? It’s simple: controversy sells. But overturn every stone, snoop around players-only meetings and infiltrate the inner workings of the Thunder and there is no controversy to be found. They have a GM in Sam Presti who somehow managed to put together a Western Conference Finalist while living well under the salary cap, they have a fiery young head coach who has the trust and loyalty of his team, and they have a humble superstar who is as committed to getting better as any player in the NBA despite being an elite player in his own right. There’s an all-for-one-and-one-for-all mentality in the Thunder locker room that most NBA teams can only dream of having. It may not sell outside of OKC, but the budding NBA fans in Oklahoma City are completely on board. Perhaps instead of looking for scandals where there are none, the rest of NBA nation should just get on board, as well. If more teams were run like the Thunder the league might not be locking out its players.”

Zach Lowe of SI rehashes the Green-Perk trade: “This is not an endorsement of the Perkins/Green trade. The stance here from the moment the deal happened was a mixture of understanding what Boston was going for and nervousness that it had targeted the wrong player (Green) to execute that plan. The Thunder will probably “win” the deal in the long haul, and Boston could get itself in trouble by overpaying Green. But it has long been time to move away from the idea that the Perkins swap was the most important factor in Boston’s failure to win the 2011 title. The deal may well have affected team chemistry, as Rondo seems to indicate, but the ability to magically heal Rondo’s dislocated left elbow (or perhaps Davis’ psyche) would have helped Boston’s chances in that particular series more than Perkins.”

@ CrowI'm with Crow here, based on Golliver's own list. He admittedly puts the Heat ahead of the Thunder even though we have the more complete roster and he does it on the basis of LeBron and Wade. So if those two put the Heat ahead of us, how does a roster with D Howard rate 2nd worst?

I am not sure whether "Magic, really?" is questioning the article or my rating but assuming it is the later, I'd say that either Howard stays or they open up a ton a caproom to get other players in a cheaper climate or they get some desirable compensation in a sign n trade. Turkoglu is frustrating and disappointing but Regularized Adjusted +/- still put him at +1.7 this season (down from +2.5 for the 5 year estimate). They also have Bass, Anderson, Nelson, Reddick and others. I could see them in the middle easier. It isn't looking as good as it did a year or two ago but I don't think the roster is that near the 2nd worst of all teams. A still youngish star looking at possibly better options for endorsement money and / or greater contention on his third deal is an uncomfortable situation but not having one is worse.

justin :Harden has a much better chance. PF is loaded in the West. Ibaka is not going to beat out Griffin, Love, Randolph, Gasol, Aldridge, Dirk… even guys like Jefferson.Who is Harden’s competition at SG? Kobe, Ginobili, Monta Ellis, Eric Gordon, Kevin Martin…

Hmmm...that Ben Golliver article says that the Thunder have "zero holes in the starting lineup". I wonder if he's including Thabo in that assessment or if he's assuming (like most of us) that Harden will start this coming year?